AMA ATV Motocross Nationals Round #4 - Birch Creek MX Park Danville, Virigina April 18-19, 2009

AMA ATV Motocross Nationals Round #4 - Birch Creek Race Results Photo Galleries

Suzuki's #1 Dustin Wimmer Wins 3rd Race of the season & extends his points lead over Joe Byrd to 6 points

"That was a pretty crazy moto," said Wimmer of his intense second-moto battle with Byrd and Wienen. "The start wasn't too bad, I got up into that first turn and there was a bunch of bumping. I got hung up a little bit and a couple people got around me but I worked my way up through and caught up to Chad. My shocks were working great so I was able to out power by him over a jump and just stick it."

The win also pushes Wimmer's points lead up to six, as Byrd had closed the gap to one point coming into the race.

Under overcast skies that made for perfect racing weather, Byrd and Wienen drag raced to the first turn first in moto one, with Byrd snagging the $250 Holeshot Award and Wienen coming out right behind the two-time champion. Cody Miller, Clay Holmes and Wimmer tucked in behind the lead duo, and soon Wienen made a pass on Byrd to take the lead. Wimmer also moved around Byrd and chased Wienen. Wimmer pressured Wienen all the way to the finish, but Wienen ultimately held on to win his first moto of the season in a close battle. While Byrd settled into third, Warnert Racing Can-Am teammates Miller and John Natalie battled for fourth and fifth position with Natalie making way to grab the higher of the two.

Heading into the second moto, the stage was set for a race few have seen in years. Wienen was the man to beat, but a wheelie on the start gave the edge to the rest of the field. Byrd grabbed his second Holeshot Award for the day and lead for much of the moto, but he had zero room for error with less than a second lead over Monster Kawasaki's Josh Creamer, who suffered a mechanical problem in the first moto. Creamer led a pack of hungry riders behind Byrd including Greg Gee, Miller, Natalie, Wienen and Wimmer. Both Wienen and Wimmer stayed with each other as they moved through the group to fall in behind Byrd. In dramatic fashion, Wimmer finally made the move over Wienen and Byrd in the same lap to take the lead, and he pushed his gap out to two seconds to take the moto and overall win. Wienen rode smart to the checkers to take third behind Byrd. His 1-3 score still netted him second overall over Byrd's 3-2 score.

"I was just thinking to stay close to everyone so they didn't run away with it and we did," said Wienen. "My setup was really good the first moto, but the second moto, I was getting beat up a little bit, but we made the most of it and we got up on this box so I'm really happy about that. It was bar-to-bar really. You know everyone just put it in and I gave it everything I got. The biggest thing the fans, I can see the fans waving their arms out there and that really gets me motivated to going and do my best."

"I got a good holeshot both motos," said Byrd after taking home a $500 bonus for both Holeshot Awards. "The first moto I just didn't have the setup, but the second moto we did and I just made a mistake and [Wimmer] got around me and then I was trying to charge back but ran out of time."

Byrd's machine began smoking almost immediately even though he spent nearly the entire moto in the lead. "We had the power, but it was just in my mind and I didn't want it locking up over a jump," said Byrd. "We had a vent line pop off on the hot lap and we tried to patch that before the race so luck was just on our side that moto."

Natalie, who has suffered an onslaught of mechanical problems recently, finally showed he hasn't slowed once things click and pulled a consistent fourth for both motos collecting fourth overall. Teammate Cody Miller grabbed a 5-7 taking home a top 5 for the weekend.

Clay Holmes went 7-9 for sixth after dueling with veteran Doug Gust, who fought his way through the pack to gain positions he lost on his starts. Gust took 6-10 scores for seventh, while Jeremy Lawson snagged 12-6 finishes for 8th overall. Privateer Greg Gee is proving the change from last season has little affect on his program taking another top 10 and finishing top 10 in both motos with 8-10.

Rounding out the top ten was Creamer, who rallied from trouble in moto one to take 14-5 scores and finish tenth overall.

The Pro-Am Production class featured yet another exciting race with the young guns vying for the title. Although Cody Gibson took both moto wins for the overall, Devin Heimes applied as much pressure as he could. He took second in moto one and pressured Gibson again in the second moto until a crash ended his weekend. Kentucky riders Casey Martin and Cody Grant rounded out the overall podium, though neither picked up a top three for their motos.

The ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championship continues May 2 and 3 with the Sunset Ridge National in Walnut, Illinois. For more information visit www.atvmotocross.com.

AMA ATV Motocross Championship Pro Point Standings
1. Dustin Wimmer (184/3 wins); 2. Joe Byrd (178/1 win); 3. Josh Creamer (120); 4. Chad Wienen (114); 5. John Natalie (104); 6. Josh Upperman (102); 7. Thomas Brown (101); 8. Jeremy Lawson (97); 8. Doug Gust (97); 10. Clay Holmes (96).

About the ITP Tires/Moose Racing AMA ATV National Motocross Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited
The ITP Tires/Moose Racing AMA ATV National Motocross Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited is the nation's premier amateur and professional ATV motocross series, and competes at top motocross facilities nationwide. The 11-round series features the Nation's best racers, teams and sponsors, and is America's largest and longest-running ATV National Motocross series with more than 20 years of competition. The series continues to expand and produce top talent from the amateur ranks, while keeping close to the grassroots fun that makes people love to go to the races. For more information, please visit www.atvmotocross.com.

About MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc.
MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. manages the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship and the professional racing side of the AMA Pro ATV Motocross Championship. MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. is a second-generation family owned business that has been in operation for well over 26 years and is an industry leader in the segment of off road/action sports race promotion in the United States. Through its various racing properties, partnerships and affiliates, MX Sports fields more than 60,000 action sports athletes each year and attracts millions of active fans, spectators and enthusiasts. For more information on MX Sports, please visit www.mxsports.com.

About the ATV Promoters Group (ATVPG)
The ATVPG is composed of the individual promoters that host the ITP Tires/Moose Racing AMA ATV National Motocross Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited. The goal of the ATVPG is to raise awareness of ATV motocross through the production of professional and amateur championship racing events. For more information on the ATVPG and the ATV National events they produce, please visit www.atvmotocross.com.